1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a process for the heat treatment of cuboidal packs, in particular (cigarette) packs having an outer wrapper made of shrink film, which are conveyed as a pack group, made up of preferably two packs located one above the other, through a heating or shrink-fitting subassembly with heating means butting temporarily against the packs. The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the process.
2. Related Art
The above process and a corresponding apparatus are known from EP 1 084 954 A2.
In the prior art, a shrink-fitting subassembly is provided downstream of a sealing station for the thermal sealing of folding tabs of the outer wrapper. The shrink-fitting subassembly has plate-like heating means which butt against a respective pack side in order to transmit heat. The packs are conveyed in a closely packed row through the shrink-fitting subassembly, that is to say by pressure being transmitted for cyclic movement from pack to pack.